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Monday, July 19, 2010

After a lot of waiting (four months to be exact from when they told us we needed to order aids), Blair's hearing aids, Phonak Nios Micros, are finally here. There was a lot of tension and issues in between, including Blair having her first mold for 5 months longer than she was supposed to without having it re-fitted and waiting for the word on funding -- which we got thankfully. Then my spending hours picking out a color only to have the audiologist's office order a different one without notifying me was very frustrating.

I over-research things. I spent a lot of time deciding which one to get... pink or purple, taupe or sahara? Should we get a girly color now or let Blair choose that when she gets old enough? Do we want it to be neutral or get pink and just not worry about matching everything? (I like to match.) Which one would look best with blonde hair? And so on. It's a hearing aid. It's not that big of a deal, really, but then again it is. Blair will have these for a few years. I want her to like them when she's old enough to have an opinion. So, it was a big deal to change the color without at least giving me a heads up as to why it was being changed and what my new options were. Anyway, the color turned out to be not what I wanted, but it's not the worst thing ever. It's fine actually. But you know how it is when you have your mind set on something.

So with all the problems we had, I dragged Brad up to the office to get the aids with me and Blair. I usually take Blair to her appointments, so he was pretty clueless about it all, but it was good to have the support.

When we first got there, I saw that the molds were not the color I had requested either (pink), but they'll be fine. We get new ones every three to four months anyway. The molds are completely different too. They are much bigger and harder to put in. These aids have a lot more feedback than her other one, so if the mold is not in there good, they squeal. The other aid didn't do that, so it's good that the mold is a tighter fit.

After putting both hearing aids on for the first time -- these are different from her other aid, and she only had one before -- Blair kept saying, "ah ah ah." I hope that's a good sign. I also hope it's a good sign that she actually likes them. She asks for them by putting her fingers in her ears, and she doesn't take them out unless she's in the car or at the right times, like bath or bed. Other than that, I haven't noticed a big difference, but I hope we will. She seems to have a bit more trouble hearing over noise with them in, but that could be one little con coupled with a lot of pros. We'll see. It could be my imagination -- or Blair's hardheadedness, which she certainly did not get from me!

Blair also qualified for Babies Can't Wait after our second evaluation. It's been about a year since the first one. This time, her receptive language (what she understands) is far more advanced than her expressive language (what she says), so they felt that they may be able to help her. She didn't quite meet the qualifications solely based on expressive language, but the gap was significant enough to merit services. It's bittersweet. I'm glad we're getting more help -- in our home and not over an hour drive -- but it's hard to see it spelled out for you! The speech therapist, as opposed to a parent educator, is going to provide therapy every other week, so we were very happy about that. She is coming this week, so I look forward to getting started. We will continue with Blair's other speech appointments every other week and going to the Atlanta Speech School once a month.

Feeding Bert a fig.

Blair goes back for booth testing in a couple of weeks. When she had her other aid, the testing was the same with as without it, so we hope we see an improvement now. If we don't see speech improvement, we'll have to look at other options. We'll keep you posted! We appreciate your prayers for Blair and for us in making decisions for her!

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comments:

So maybe I missed it but what colors did you decide on and what did you get? Keep me posted on how she is doing with them. Great sign that she asks for the, right? Praying for Ms. Blair and you and Brad! XOXO!

Ashley, I also have a "hearing aid baby". Emily, now 12, has been in hearing aids since Kindergarten. Her hearing aids are purple with bright HOT pink molds! So her! I think this year, she will graduate to "grown-up" hearing aids that are very small. But she still wants bright ones! Surprised me, but I leave it up to her!

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Child of God, wife of a farmer, mom to a miracle, RN; picture taker, animal lover, Spanish speaker, world traveler, former high school teacher. I love food, knitting, blogging, and living in a small town. I write about a little of all of the above!

Brad is my husband of 6 years and the reason I live across the branch. From a very young age he knew he'd be a farmer. God gave him the love and the talent -- and he's the best looking and the best dressed farmer I know! He's funny, creative, and he's the most wonderful husband and father. He's the one that can make Blair light up like no other.

Blair is four! We are so blessed to have her. She was born very sick, but God gave her strength and brought her through it. She has hearing loss called Auditory Neuropathy and wears hearing aids. She also has chronic lung disease, but you wouldn't know by seeing her! She is the busiest, funniest little thing who keeps us laughing and on our toes. I thank God for her every day.

Leighton is the happy roly poly who joined our family this summer. He has been a joy and is as sweet as his big sister! He's such a blessing, and we're so thankful for him!